


When the Zombies Come

by CaelansFolly92



Category: Naruto
Genre: Coming Out, Death, F/M, Fluff, Loss of Parent(s), Love, M/M, Multi, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Zombies, gay as fuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 10:48:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaelansFolly92/pseuds/CaelansFolly92
Summary: Just Sasuke and Naruto and the rest of the Naruto gang riding out the zombie apocalypse. Rated M for some serious ass-kicking zombie mayhem, sex scenes, and some gruesome deaths.  This is not a crossover fic, but some of the events in here are loosely based on the manga/ anime High School of the Dead.





	1. It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)

“Uzumaki!”  
A loud voice broke through Naruto’s daydreams, snapping his attention away from the reddening trees outside, and he glared up at the Literature teacher, Umino Iruka.  
“Since you find my lesson so boring maybe you should go down to the principal’s office and talk to him. Oh, and you’ll need to come to detention tonight. I’m sure I can find something to interest you then.”  
Naruto’s friend Inuzuka Kiba snickered. Iruka-sensei rounded on him.  
“You think this is funny, Inuzuka?” he snapped. “Go join Uzumaki in the hallway!”  
The two friends held their laughter in until they left the classroom.  
“What is this, the third time in a week you’ve been caught daydreaming in Iruka’s class?” said Kiba. “You must really like him to wanna spend so much time with him after school…”  
Naruto snorted and clacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in annoyance. “As if. I’d rather be out chilling at Ichiraku’s with you and Shikamaru instead of scrubbing white boards.”  
“Yeah I just bet,” Kiba snarked back. “Your attitude says differently. What are you daydreaming about anyway? The next bowl of ramen you’re gonna eat? The next time I get to beat your ass at Mario Kart? Sasuke-kuuuunnnn?” He batted his eyelashes.  
Naruto blushed and glared at his friend. “I told you not to mention that in school dammit! What if he hears?”  
“Hears what, Uzumaki?” said a silky bored voice behind him. Naruto jumped and turned around to be met by the onyx gaze of none other than one very unimpressed Uchiha Sasuke. Shit shit shit, how much did he hear?  
“Yo, Sasuke!” he said, laughing nervously and trying to look anywhere but at Sasuke, which was kind of hard because he was wearing his kendo uniform. In an attempt to avoid looking directly at Sasuke Naruto opted to look over his shoulder instead, which turned out to be a decidedly bad idea since Kiba was behind the Uchiha making kissy faces. Naruto heartily wished that Sasuke would leave quickly so he could murder his friend.  
“Don’t tell me you got in trouble again,” said Sasuke, looking for all the world as if he would rather be doing anything else other than standing in the hallway scolding Naruto. “As it stands now you are dead last in our class this year. If you keep this up you won’t be moving on at the year’s end.”  
“Listen up temee,” said Naruto, “just because you’re the student council president doesn’t mean you get to lord it over everyone else! I’ll catch up to you and make you eat those words, I swear!”  
Sasuke raised an eyebrow in amusement. “I doubt you will ever catch up to me dobe, but keep dreaming if it makes you feel better.”  
“Fuck you Uchiha!” growled Naruto.  
“Maybe later, Uzumaki,” Sasuke said smugly as he resumed his journey toward the gym.  
When he was gone, Kiba burst out laughing. “What do you see in that guy, Naruto?! You’re constantly at each other’s throats, your personalities are completely different, he’s got a major stick up his ass that wouldn’t leave much room for your dick… Why do you even like him?”  
“I dunno,” said Naruto thoughtfully. “There’s just something about him… I can’t really place it.”  
“His dominant personality?”  
Naruto glowered. “Please, I’m the dominant one in my relationships.”  
“That’s news to me,” said Kiba. “When you were dating Neji he was the dominant one.”  
Naruto glowered at him.  
“Don’t mention that clingy bastard to me. And it’s something else, okay? I just have this feeling that Sasuke isn’t just a bastard with bastard filling like everyone thinks he is. Now come on, let’s go to the roof.”  
“I’m down as long as you don’t wolf call the guys and girls on the volleyball fields again.”  
“Aww, you take all the fun out of it!”  
“Look dude, last time you did it we got caught and you blamed it on me.”  
“Well to be fair you were also wolf whistling so you kind of deserved it,” said Naruto, giving Kiba the full effect of his side-eye.  
“Listen here you shit!” yelled Kiba, angrily throwing his bookbag at Naruto and missing. The blonde took off running down the hall cackling, and his brunet friend was obliged to run after him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

“Relax Nara, you’re holding your sword too tightly,” Sasuke barked. This was the second time today that he’d had to correct Shikamaru and he didn’t even know why the guy was on the team with his seeming lack of motivation, but Shikamaru’s dad was friends with the coach so he couldn’t kick him off without catching hell for it. Having friends in high places or a lot of money was nice –hell, Sasuke’s family had more money and influence than they knew what to do with- but not when it interfered with the kendo team’s performance.  
As he stepped in to spar with deputy captain Rock Lee Sasuke let his mind wander to the subject of Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto was a hopeless dunce when it came to school, but he shone in other ways. Sasuke had seen him step into a hairy situation more than once and diffuse it with his easy-going attitude. There was an atmosphere around him that made people like him. His laugh was infectious and his sky blue eyes were always glowing as if he’d just heard a good joke. And there was the fact –which everyone at school had known since tenth grade- that he was bisexual. Of course, Sasuke would never openly admit to having a crush on the blonde since he had his reputation as an Uchiha to uphold...  
“Itai!” he gasped as Lee’s wooden sword hit him in the side. He glared at the bowl-haired boy as he rubbed at the spot. That was going to leave a bruise.  
“I am sorry, Uchiha-kun,” said Lee, “but one should never let down their guard, as you have told us time and again.”  
“Well I’m glad someone has been listening to me,” said Sasuke, glaring at the other attending team members. Gaara rolled his eyes, and Shikamaru yawned.  
At that moment the door of the dojo slid open, and in walked something right out of a horror movie.  
“Sakura!” cried Lee, running toward the door.  
Indeed it was Haruno Sakura, the secretary of the student council. Her uniform, usually so impeccably taken care of, was torn and covered in blood and dirt. Her skin was deathly pale, her teal eyes unfocused. Blood dripped down her leg from a wound that looked strangely like it had been made by another human’s teeth. The sight of her set Sasuke’s nerves on edge.  
“Get away from her Lee!” he called, readying his bokken, but Lee was already picking Sakura up.  
“We have to get her to the nurrraugggghhh!” Lee screamed and choked on blood as Sakura bit into his neck. Blood spurted from the gaping hole, bathing the floor and the wall in red. As everyone watched in horror, Sakura began to eat a still writhing Lee.  
It took a moment for Sasuke to shake the wave of nausea that swept over him at the sight that lay before him. Sweeping the bokken up, he swung it around in a curving arc to hit Sakura in the side. She stumbled but quickly regained her balance and began to limp toward the rest of the team, a wavering moan coming from her mouth all the while. The sound sent chills down Sasuke’s spine, almost paralysing him with fear. One thought ran through his mind: Sakura needed to be stopped now. Drawing the bokken back, he drove it through her chest. She slumped over as he withdrew his weapon, wiping the blood off on his hakama.  
As he turned to walk away, Sasuke heard the bone-chilling sound again. This time there wasn’t just one moan but two as Lee got unsteadily to his feet and joined Sakura.  
“Holy shit,” said Shikamaru.  
Sasuke almost panicked. Sakura was still up and moving after he’d just stabbed her in the chest. How was this even possible? And what the fuck was Lee doing up when he’d lost so much blood?  
Zombies. It had to be zombies. Sasuke didn’t want to believe it because it sounded so utterly ridiculous even in his mind, but what other explanation could there be for what was happening right now? Think Uchiha, how do they do it in the movies?  
“Nara, I need the kusanagi hanging on the wall.”  
Shikamaru just stared.  
“NARA!” he yelled, and Shikamaru snapped out of whatever daze he was in and ran for the wall while Gaara helped Sasuke ward off the monsters that had been Sakura and Lee.  
“Oi, Uchiha!” he yelled, throwing the sword in Sasuke’s direction. He caught it and whipped it out of its sheathe, decapitating Sakura with one swipe. Her head fell to the ground a little ways from her body, eyes still moving and teeth still clacking as if trying to chew something. Sasuke shuddered as he drove the kusanagi through her forehead.  
Meanwhile Gaara was facing off against Lee. As the zombie lunged, he stepped back out of reach. The sickening crunch of the wooden bokken against bone echoed throughout the dojo and Lee fell to the ground, his brains and blood oozing all over the mats. The others looked on in disgust as Gaara shook off the brain matter stuck to his weapon. “That was way too close for comfort,” he said, wiping his hands on his haori.  
“This is completely impossible,” said Shikamaru numbly. “Zombies only exist in the movies. This has to be a really bad dream.”  
“It’s improbable but not impossible,” replied Gaara. “There are diseases out there that could create what we just saw.”  
“Less speculating, more moving,” said Sasuke, heading for Asuma’s office. “We’re all going to need real blades if we don’t want to become zombie food.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

“So what were you thinking of doing for your history project?” Kiba asked Naurto as they lay on the roof.  
“I dunno, probably ninjas.”  
“Dude, why are you so obsessed with ninjas? You’re such an otaku.”  
“Look man,” said Naruto, “I don’t get on you for wanting to do your project on video games and there’s barely any historical value to those.”  
“Wow, low blow Naruto. Besides, Japan practically invented video games!”  
“Oh yeah…”  
“Baka.”  
“Hey! You want to fight me dog breath?”  
“Don’t call me dog breath, fuckface!”  
It was as Naruto and Kiba were rolling around on the roof, each trying to pin the other, that the door to the roof banged open. The two boys immediately leapt off each other.  
“We’re so sorry Tsunade-sama!” they cried in unison, bowing low in the hopes of their punishment not being too severe. But it wasn’t Tsunade; it was Yamanaka Ino and her group of friends.  
“Ino-chan?” said Naruto in confusion. “What are you doing up here?”  
“Haven’t you been paying attention?!” the student council treasurer snapped. “There’s something wrong!”  
“That’s not very specific,” Kiba pointed out, scratching his head.  
“There are students attacking each other!” wailed another girl. “One of them bit Miki!”  
The girl named Miki was slumped on the ground nearby. Her uniform jacket was torn and her shoulder was leaking blood at an alarming rate. She looked up at her friends in terror. “Please, I don’t want to die!”  
“You won’t die Miki!” cried Ino, putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. “You’ll be fine! We’ll get you to the nurse and you’ll be fine!”  
But it didn’t look fine to Naruto; Miki’s pale face was beaded with sweat and as he watched she began to cough up blood in thick globs. “We have to take her now Ino, she really doesn’t look good,” he said, his eyebrows knitting with worry.  
Just then there was a loud slam on the other side of the door and the girls shrieked and stumbled back. Naruto looked at Kiba, who looked back at him and mouthed “What the fuck?”  
“It’s them!” cried a girl with red pigtails. “We’re doomed!”  
Naruto was about to ask who “them” was when the door burst open and his question answered itself. Standing before them were two girls and a guy, their uniforms in tatters and their guts dragging behind them as they staggered onto the roof. Behind Naruto Kiba made a noise somewhere between horror and disgust.  
“We’re doomed!” Ino screamed.  
“Hey Naruto!” yelled Kiba. Naruto turned in time to catch the lead pipe that Kiba tossed him and took aim at one of the students. His swing missed doing any substantial damage and instead caught her on the shoulder, knocking her back onto Ino. As he watched in awestruck terror the bleeding girl turned around and bit Ino’s face, tearing off her nose and part of her eye. She screamed, clutching at her face and receiving more bites on her hands as she tried to ward off the attacks. Meahwhile the other two went for the rest of the girls, who were huddled in a group on the corner of the roof. Naruto and Kiba ran toward them but it was too late; in their panic they began to jump, tumbling over the roof’s edge one after the other like lemmings off a cliff.  
“Stop!” Naruto cried. “We can help you!” But his cries fell on deaf ears as the girls jumped, their screams piercing the early autumn air. The two… creatures… caught one and tore into her like a starving man into a bento box. Meanwhile, Miki had gotten up and was tearing into the soft flesh of Ino’s stomach as her terrified cries weakened to strangled gurgling.  
“What the hell is going on?!” asked Kiba, his eyes wide.  
Suddenly it struck Naruto, like a bolt from the blue. It was crazy and impossible, but there was only one way to deal with this.  
“Aim for their heads Kiba!” he shouted as he swung again at the creature that he’d missed. “That’s the only way to put a zombie down!”  
“Are you crazy?!” Kiba responded.  
“Are you even paying attention to what’s happening?!” snarled Naruto as he swung again and again, reducing the zombie’s brain to mush. He splattered Miki’s brains across the roof door with a backhand swing and crushed Ino’s head in the door for good measure.  
Kiba seemed to fight with himself for a moment and then grabbed another pipe as the two zombies near the roof’s edge turned and came for them. With a heavy swing he knocked one over the edge of the roof, and then on the backswing he hit the unfortunate girl who had been caught in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground. His second swing caved in her skull and she stayed down, brain matter oozing from her eye socket. The final zombie was dispatched by shoving the bar through her eye socket and out the top of her head. Kiba flicked the bar to remove the gore, his nose wrinkled.  
Soon enough the door to the roof began to rattle again. Behind the door Naruto and Kiba could hear their fellow classmates screaming to be let up, but though the screaming tore at their heartstrings they began to barricade it with whatever else they could find on the roof. A chair, another section of pipe, a few boards... As they worked the screaming died away, replaced by the horrid moaning and scratching of the undead. The two boys were alone now. Naruto briefly wondered if Sasuke and Shikamaru were among those on the other side of the door. He shook his head; now was not the time to be thinking about what ifs.  
“How long d’you think this will last?” Kiba asked Naruto as they looked at their rickety makeshift barricade, already shaking apart under the weight of the thumping on the other side.  
“I dunno, but if the movies are anything to go by probably not long,” Naruto replied. “We need to figure out a way off the roof before they break through.”  
But after two rounds of the roof with no ladders long enough to reach the ground and no stairways in sight, they had to admit that they were trapped.  
“Welp, it was nice knowing you,” intoned Kiba as the barricade slowly crumbled.  
“Stop being a downer and fight!” Naruto yelled as the door finally collapsed and the undead poured out. Kiba had just enough time to get out of the way before he rammed the long metal rod into the head of the nearest zombie, which dropped like a stone.  
“I could’ve gotten that!” griped Kiba as he drove another zombie off the roof.  
“You could have if you weren’t getting all teary-eyed,” Naruto retorted as he stabbed another zombie through the eye. The eyeball burst and gelatinous ooze slid down the zombie’s face as Naruto pulled out the pipe.  
“Fuck you,” Kiba said as he rammed his section of piping through the chin of the creature that used to be their headmistress Tsunade. It exited the top of her head and Kiba pulled back quickly to avoid having his weapon pulled from his hands as she fell.  
Just then there was a new commotion from the direction of the door, and who should step onto the roof but Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Gaara, all in their bloodstained kendo uniforms and each wielding a sword. They were all breathing hard and seemed to have worked up quite a sweat.  
“It’s about damn time you showed up, ‘ttebayo!” called Naruto, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. “I thought we were fucked!”  
“Hn.”  
Naruto rolled his eyes as he speared yet another zombie. “Uchiha Sasuke, always a man of few words. It’s nice to see that some things don’t change even when the world’s ending.”  
“I should have left you here, usuratonkachi,” Sasuke muttered as he wiped the blade on his hakama. “Come on. If we don’t hurry the way back down will be blocked.”  
Kiba and Naruto did not need to be told twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of a revised version of a fanfic that I wrote on fanfiction.net back when I was a teen. The original was awfully disjointed and full of gratuitous sex for gratuitous sex's sake, and I'm not that kind of guy anymore, plus I only recently got back into Naruto, so I decided to go back and rework the story to make it more readable and less juvenile. So what y'all are getting is a mostly polished piece, the product of years of college level writing courses and about ten years of hindsight and a healthy embarrassment for my sixteen-year-old writing style. Just a little information: a bokken is one of the two types of training swords used in kendo. The bokken is made of hard wood like oak, and the shinai is made of bamboo.  
> Enjoy! Don't forget to leave comments and kudos if you like it!
> 
> ~CaelansFolly92


	2. Children of the Grave

“Okay so can anyone explain to me how the fuck this is happening?!” Kiba asked as he brained another zombie. “We were having a perfectly normal day and now we’re living in a Romero flick.”  
“Is now really the time Kiba?” Shikamaru retorted as he stood back to back with his friend.  
“You know Kiba,” said Naruto from a little ways down the hall where he was dealing with what used to be the school’s handyman Tazuna and a few other zombies, “he always has the worst timing.”  
“Look who’s talking, you both have terrible timing.”  
“Do we really have time for anything other than figuring out how we’re going to get out of here without getting bitten?” Sasuke asked irritably, decapitating another zombified student.  
“Our first goal should be to get to the parking lot,” said Naruto. “From there we can take a bus to my house. It’s up on a cliff not too far from here, it’s surrounded by a fence, and it’s got plenty of room for all of us.”  
“Okay but do you know how to drive yet?”  
Even swinging the pipe section left and right Naruto somehow found the time to whip out his driver’s licence and then tuck it safely back inside his pocket. “Why? Don’t you know how to drive yet temee?”  
“I am in the process of learning how,” said Sasuke stiffly.  
“Wow,” smirked Naruto, “me ahead of you in anything? I wanna savour this moment.”  
“We don’t have time to be standing around arguing,” interjected Gaara. “We need to find shelter ten minutes ago.”  
At that moment a blood-curdling scream came from one of the classrooms behind them and they whipped around. Without hesitation Kiba and Naruto ran toward the sound of the screaming, leaving the other three behind.  
“Mendokuse,” muttered Shikamaru, and for once Sasuke had to agree with him.  
“Dobe, you’re going to get yourself bitten!” he yelled, running after the retreating golden streak. Reaching the classroom door in record time he dashed through. If Naruto died…  
The walkers in the room centred around Naruto, Kiba, and two girls who looked to be first years. Sasuke hadn’t seen them before but he didn’t bother to spare them a second more discerning glance as he rushed in with his kusanagi swinging in gracefully deadly arcs, cutting swaths through the walkers in his way.  
“You idiot!” he yelled at Naruto. “You could have gotten yourself killed!”  
“Aww Sasuke, I’m so touched that you care about me!” Naruto laughed (that infectious laugh) as he imploded the head of a zombie. “Let’s go!” he added to the first years, who were standing there dazed. “We need to move or we’ll get bitten!”  
“Wait a second Naruto!” said Sasuke. “You two! Have you been bitten?”  
The girls looked at each other then at Sasuke timidly before lifting their skirts slightly to show their legs and rolling their sleeves up to show two pairs of unblemished arms. He let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. “All right, come on. We’re headed for the first floor and there are a lot of walkers about, so stay close to us.”  
“Who are you guys?” Kiba asked as they walked. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”  
“That’s because we’re first years,” said one of the girls. “I’m Sasaki and my sister is Saya. Now do we leave, or do we stand around making conversation and waiting for the flesh-eaters?”  
“We’re leaving as soon as Kiba stops making googly eyes at you,” snickered Naruto.  
“Shut up Naruto!”  
“You know I’m right, Inuzuka! Now are you gonna start walking or are you electing to become zombie fodder?” Naruto walked toward the stairwell, the rest of the group trailing behind. They were on the landing between the second and first floor when Naruto suddenly put out his hand.  
“What is it?” asked Sasuke.  
“Shh,” whispered Naruto, pointing down the stairwell to the hallway below.   
Sasuke drew even with Naruto and let out a low hum of irritation as he took in the milling zombies. “I was really hoping to not have to fight past a horde…”  
“We might not have to,” whispered Naruto. “Stay here, I wanna test something.” He began tiptoeing down the stairs, but Sasuke grabbed him by the elbow.  
“Are you kidding me?” he hissed. “They’ll see you!”  
“I dunno if they will. That’s what I wanna test.”  
“By offering yourself up as bait?”  
“You got a better idea, ‘ttebayo?” Naruto snapped. Sasuke remained silent and the blond gave him an annoyed look which softened a little when he saw the worry on his face. “I’ll be fine.” He began to creep down the stairs toward the roaming horde, not stopping until he was surrounded by shuffling zombies.  
Except for the occasional moan from one of the undead it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. No one dared breathe as they watched Naruto, but not one of the undead seemed to notice him in their midst. Then he started swaying back and forth and behind Sasuke one of the sisters did a soft intake of breath. Miraculously none of the zombies looked his way, so carefully Naruto dug in his pocket and produced a rubber ball and threw it. The ball bounced off of lockers and classroom doors as it travelled down the hallway, drawing the zombies toward what they thought would be their next meal. Naruto visibly exhaled and waved to the others to follow him to the door, moving quietly past the few straggling walkers.  
Sasuke almost dared to think that they were going to get through the doors and out to the parking lot without having to fight any more zombies, but this was not to be. As the girls crept down the stairs Saya tripped and tumbled the rest of the way down. The commotion caused by her fall broke the silence of the hall and brought the zombies lurching toward the small group. The eerie noise sounded like a hunting call.  
“Goddammit!” Naruto yelled in frustration. “Everyone go!”  
“My sister!” screamed Sasaki, turning around to help.  
Sasuke grabbed her and pushed her toward the door. “He’ll get your sister, just go!”  
Naruto got to Saya and helped her up, but she fell back down. “My ankle’s sprained,” she cried. “Just leave me and go!”  
“Fuck that!” Naruto said angrily, picking Saya up piggyback style. Turning toward the doors he saw that of the rest of the group only Kiba and Sasuke remained to keep the way out clear. “I told you to go!” he snapped. “Come on, ‘ttebayo!”  
As they reached the parking lot they heard an engine revving and just barely got out of the way as a bus came barrelling past them and screeched to a stop mere inches away. Naruto and Kiba swore and picked up themselves and Saya while Sasuke glared at the driver of the bus, a very pleased Sasaki.  
Naruto reached the bus first. “It’s great that you came to us so we wouldn’t have to go to you, but maybe take driving lessons first and try not to kill us next time?” he griped as he helped Kiba bring Saya up the steps and settle her on one of the seats.  
“Look, you guys looked like you needed help so I provided the help,” deadpanned Sasaki.  
“Hey dobe,” snapped Sasuke, “your ass is blocking the way up.”  
“Your ass is blocking the way up, temee,” muttered Naruto, standing aside so that the two behind him could get all the way up.  
Sasuke gave him another unimpressed look. “Real mature, Uzumaki,” he said, rolling his eyes. He brushed past Naruto to the back of the bus, where he put the seat in a reclining position and closed his eyes.   
Now is not the time to think about his warm breath floating across your skin, Uzumaki…  
“Gimme the wheel before you kill anyone,” Naruto told Sasaki.  
“There’s no one to kill,” Sasaki pointed out. “They’re all dead.” She indicated the zombies scratching at the bus door.  
“Point taken,” conceded Naruto. “However, I’d rather not get into a fiery crash and die so give me the wheel.”  
Sasaki conceded and moved to sit with Saya, her hands gently holding the swelling ankle as the two sisters talked quietly. Naruto took his place at the wheel, turned the key in the ignition, and roared off through the growing mob in the parking lot. Zombies hit the bumper left and right, their blood splattering on the windshield faster than Naruto could wipe them away with the windshield wipers. In the back of the bus someone was throwing up, but he didn’t turn around to see who it was and how they were doing. He just kept going.  
Ahead of them were the gates. Naruto revved the engine, sending up a silent prayer to the heavens, and floored the gas pedal. In one burst they were through the gates. Naruto exhaled. Against all odds, they were alive.


	3. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams

The streets were full of the dead. Whatever caused people to turn into zombies had spread so fast that many had little or no time to respond. Panicked people had tried to escape in vain, judging by the wrecked cars and strewn luggage that lined the streets. The survivors on the bus tried not to look too hard at the writhing shapes inside of them, but Naruto could feel the tension permeating the air. He understood; it was difficult for him to keep focused on the task at hand when he was worried about whether his parents and siblings were safe.  
“Holy shit!”  
His momentary lapse in concentration had almost run them into a car stalled in front of them and he jammed on the brakes, throwing everyone out of their seats. The seatbelt cut into his shoulder hard enough to leave a mark.  
“I thought you knew how to drive!” groaned Kiba, picking himself off the floor.  
“We’re stuck, ‘ttebayo,” countered Naruto, waving his hand at the traffic jam going up the side of the cliff. “There’s no way we can get through with this; we’re gonna have to get out and walk.”  
“Mendokuse,” muttered Shikamaru, rubbing his forehead.  
“Lovely,” said Kiba. “We’re as good as zombie fodder now.”  
“Shut up, Inuzuka,” said Sasuke quietly. “You’re gonna scare the others.”  
“Make me, pretty boy,” Kiba growled, poking him in the chest.  
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” said Gaara.  
Before Kiba could ask why, Sasuke had him backed up against the window of the bus with his sword digging into the brunet’s neck. “Don’t fucking touch me, dog breath.”  
“Calm down dude, I didn’t mean anything by it!” Kiba squeaked as Gaara and Naruto separated the two of them. “Are you crazy?!”  
“No, I’m tired of your shit!” Sasuke retorted, yanking his arm out of Gaara’s grasp. “You’ve done nothing but whine the entire time! We’re all tired and scared, stop acting like you’re special!”  
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Naruto yelled. “Both of you, cut it out and take a seat! Sasuke, put the sword away! There will be no murder on the bus! Kiba, Sasuke’s right! We’re all scared and exhausted but the only one I’ve heard complaining constantly is you! Cut it the fuck out!”  
Sasuke sheathed his sword and sank into his seat, his features more worn than they had been when he stood up. Kiba moved to the back and crossed his arms. “Sure, side with your boyfriend,” he muttered.  
“I heard that, Kiba,” snarled Naruto. “One more word and the next time you piss Sasuke off I’m gonna let him dismember you.” In the rear-view mirror he watched Kiba’s face go pale and smirked.   
When he had fully composed himself he turned around. “Okay, so the road is blocked. That doesn’t mean we can’t get through. I’m gonna go scope out the way ahead and make sure that we can get up safely. Everyone else stay here. If I don’t come back take the bus and get out of here. Go back to the school and hole up somewhere.”  
“We’re not going back to the school!” snapped Sasaki. “We’ll get eaten if we do that! And Saya can’t run, she’d be an easy target.”  
“You got a better idea, ‘ttebayo?” Naruto asked her. “You saw the roads on the way here, everywhere is like this. We don’t have many options.”  
“I’m going with you,” said Sasuke. “Somebody needs to watch your loser ass in case of attack.”  
“You’re just saying that so you can get quality time with Naru-chan,” said Kiba in a weird falsetto.  
“I’m saying it because if I stay on here with you any longer I’m going to kill you,” replied Sasuke with a disdainful glance in Kiba’s direction.  
“Well then, that’s settled,” said Naruto over Kiba’s attempted retort. “Shikamaru, Gaara, you’re in charge. Sasuke, you’re with me. Kiba, shut up.”  
“Bye bye kids!” Kiba yelled as the boys got off the bus. “Have fun storming the castle!”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

“So did you really volunteer because Kiba was getting on your nerves or could you not bear to see me go?” Naruto teased.  
Sasuke raised an eyebrow in amusement. “I came to keep your dumb ass out of trouble, and because I was going to kill Inuzuka if he said another word.”  
“Aww, so you were worried about me!”  
“You’re the only one who can drive.”  
“Not that that’s doing much good now.”  
“Shut up, dobe.”  
“Temee.”  
They walked in silence for a bit, each searching intently for a clear path through the debris and trying not to look at the other. There didn’t seem to be any zombies on the road with them, but there were plenty in the cars. Sasuke supposed that they’d been bitten, tried to get themselves to the hospital, and died and reanimated while still in the car.  
Some cars had whole families inside. Naruto cringed as a baby opened and closed its mouth, as if without its teeth it could somehow chew through the glass and get to the two living people on the other side. “I wonder if it’s just Japan,” he commented, “or if it’s the whole world.”  
“Let’s just focus on finding a good route to your house,” said Sasuke, suppressing a shudder as a very rotund zombie banged its head on the window of one of the cars, smearing it with blood.  
Just as they got to the top of the cliff and what looked like a seven-car pile-up, something behind them broke with a resounding crash.  
“What the fuck was that?” asked Naruto as he spun around, searching for the source of the noise.  
“I don’t know,” murmured Sasuke, taking out his kusanagi and looking warily around. At that moment something grazed his shoulder and he nearly dropped his weapon as a burning pain raced through his left arm.  
“Are you okay Sasuke?”  
“Yeah, it’s just a scratch,” he replied with a grimace. “At least we know that it’s not a zombie.”  
Just then a head of red hair popped over the pile-up.  
“State your names!” the person shouted.  
Naruto’s eyes widened. “Kurama?!” he called. “Is that you, Kura-nii? It’s me, Naruto!”  
After sizing them up for a moment the red-haired man jumped over the barricade and crushed Naruto in a hug.  
“Holy shit, Naruto!” he cried. “I was so worried, ‘ttedana! Have you seen Mom, Dad, and Naruko?”  
“You mean they’re not here with you, ‘ttebayo?” asked Naruto worriedly. “I haven’t seen them since this morning. There’s a busload of people a little ways down the hill though, can we go get them?”  
“Are they safe?” asked Kurama suspiciously. He turned to Sasuke. “And who are you?”  
“I’m Uchiha Sasuke, one of Naruto’s classmates,” replied Sasuke as Kurama checked him over for bites. “And yes, we made sure no one was bitten before they got on the bus. There’s a girl with a sprained ankle though.”  
“So you’re Sasuke,” said Kurama thoughtfully. Sasuke squirmed internally under his blue gaze for a moment before he turned his eyes toward the bus that Naruto was indicating. “Lead the way. I’ll carry the injured girl.”  
Naruto led them back toward the bus, carefully picking his way back through the cars and the rubble as Sasuke and Kurama kept watch for any sign that the zombies were about to break out of their cars.  
“Is it safe?”  
“Who’s the redhead?”  
“Did anyone get bitten?”  
“All right, quiet down!” called Naruto. “We found my brother Kurama and he’s going to help us get to the house. Saya, Nii-san offered to carry you up so you’ll be fine. We just need to move the barricade at the end of the road. Any questions?”  
“Yeah, since when are you in command?” piped up Kiba.  
Naruto rolled his eyes. “You’re my best friend but you’re really starting to irritate me. Let’s go.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

“So how did you escape, Naruto?” Kurama asked as they sat down around the fireplace in the Uzumaki-Namikaze family’s living room after helping Sasaki move Saya to the downstairs bedroom. “It couldn’t have been easy.”  
“It wasn’t,” Naruto replied, rubbing his hands on his sweatpants. “Kiba and I were trapped up on the school roof and Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Gaara helped us get untrapped. We rescued Saya and Sasaki and then dipped. How in the hell did you get here from Tokyo?”  
“I took a plane this morning, ‘ttedana,” deadpanned Kurama, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “Fall break started today.”  
“How d’you expect me to remember your college schedule?” snapped Naruto.  
“Pay attention to the emails I send you guys?” said his brother. “I know that’s a novel idea. By the way,” he asked Sasuke, “do you happen to be related to an Uchiha Itachi?”  
“Yeah, that’s my older brother,” Sasuke replied. “He got home this morning. How do you know him?”  
“He’s in all of my classes, ‘ttedana,” said Kurama with a grin. “We have the same major. Does he have a stick up his ass all the time or just sometimes?”  
“I think having sticks up their asses is an Uchiha trait,” Kiba cut in, putting his arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, “because I’m pretty sure the princess here is growing a tree up there.”  
Sasuke hissed in pain as Kiba’s hand brushed his bandaged sholuder and shrugged his arm off. “How would you like me to take that tree and shove it up your ass?” he asked. Kurama and Naruto burst out laughing, not stopping even when Sasuke turned his murderous gaze on them.  
“I can see why you like him, Naruto,” said Kurama as he wiped tears from his eyes. “He’s got a good sense of humour.”  
Naruto blushed furiously. “Shut up, Nii-san, you’re embarrassing,” he muttered.  
“Will you guys shut up in there?” hissed Sasaki, poking her head out of the downstairs bedroom. “We’re trying to sleep!”  
“Sorry, ‘ttedana,” giggled Kurama.  
Just then something thumped against the front door. Sasaki jumped and let out a squeak, and Naruto walked out of the room and came back with a hunting rifle.  
“Do you know how to shoot that?” Gaara asked him.  
“Yep,” he said quietly, creeping toward the front door with the rifle in firing position. “Who’s there?” he called out.  
“Open up shithead, it’s me!” a female voice called back.  
“Holy shit!” said Naruto excitedly, throwing open the door and dragging the person on the other side into a hug. “We were worried out of our fucking skulls, Naruko!”  
Sasuke looked Naruko up and down. She looked exactly how he imagined Naruto would look as a girl. “I didn’t know you had a twin.”  
“Yep, double trouble,” Kurama chortled. “Naruto’s older by three minutes. You need to check if she’s bitten, idiot.”  
“Oh, right!” said Naruto, facepalming. “Show me your arms, Naruko.”  
“I didn’t get bitten but I had a few close shaves on the way here,” said Naruko as she rolled up her sleeves. “I came by myself.”  
“None of your friends came with?” asked Naruto incredulously.  
“Megumi and Akane, they got bitten,” Naruko explained, her voice wavering. “Akane first; we had to… We had t-t-to…” She broke down.  
Naruto looked at Kurama for help. “Come on Naruko,” he said soothingly, “let’s get you upstairs… Take a warm shower…” The two brothers led their sister up the stairs, trying to comfort her.  
“That’s fucked up,” said Kiba.  
“It will only get worse,” Sasuke assured him grimly.


	4. Bottled Up Inside

Sasuke walked through the halls of his family home. He heard nothing but his footsteps and saw nothing but his shadow on the papered walls. Every room he opened the door to was empty, but as he reached the door at the end of the walkway he heard shuffling inside. He crept toward the door and cautiously pushed it open.  
“Mom?” he ventured quietly. “Dad? Itachi-nii-san?”  
Moonlight shone into the room and Sasuke saw his parents and older brother properly. Blood dripped from their mouths and raw flesh hung from their teeth. When they heard Sasuke they turned blank eyes on him and uttered their eerie hunting call as they staggered toward him. He wanted to run but his feet remained rooted to the floor. Itachi grabbed him and pulled him toward them, and teeth sank into his flesh…  
“AAGGGGHHHHHH!”  
His eyes shot open and he found himself not at home in his own bed but in an unfamiliar room. He almost screamed again when he realised that the grip on his arm hadn’t lessened, but then he turned and saw Gaara sitting on the ground next to the couch holding his inhaler. Sasuke used the inhaler and the sound of his calm voice talking about sword moves and class notes to calm down enough to remember where he was and how he’d gotten there. He sank back onto the pillow Naruto had loaned him, rubbing his hand over his eyes.  
“What a nightmare,” he groaned.  
“Is everything cool?” asked Kurama, and the two boys saw him standing on the stairs with a rifle. Naruto and Naruko stood behind him, looking out over them and the rest of the living room with apprehension on their faces.  
“Everything’s fine,” said Gaara. “Sorry to worry you guys.”  
“Okay, just making sure,” Kurama murmured sleepily. “Good night guys.” He trudged up the stairs, followed by the twins. Naruto stopped for a moment before he reached the top of the stairs and looked back at Sasuke. Sasuke pointedly avoided his gaze until he heard footsteps padding away, feeling the blush creeping up his cheeks. He’d probably woken the entire house and freaked out Naruto… What was he, five?  
“Don’t do that, Sasuke,” Gaara murmured.  
“Don’t do what?”  
“I’ve known you long enough that I can tell what’s going through your head. Anyone would have nightmares after the day we’ve had.”  
“But did anyone else scream loud enough to wake everyone up?” Sasuke retorted.  
Gaara sighed. “It’s understandable. Like I said, we’ve all had a rough day. You’re worried about your family. I’m worried about mine too.”  
“What if… What if yesterday morning was the last time we ever see them?”  
“It’s too late to dwell on the what-ifs and the should-haves. The only thing we can do now is move forward and hope that they’re okay unless proven otherwise.” It was an answer to a question that Sasuke wasn’t sure he wanted answered, but Gaara was right. There was no other course of action available, and the thought both calmed and terrified him.  
“I think I’m going to try sleeping again,” he said to Gaara. “Thanks for sitting up with me.”  
“No worries,” replied Gaara, lying back down on his borrowed sleeping bag. “Just shout if you need anything.”  
“I hope you know you’re not funny,” Sasuke groaned as he turned over.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The next morning dawned cold and rainy. Sasuke had slept very little since the nightmare and was in a horrible mood. He’d been hoping not to run into anyone and have to deal with the embarrassment of being asked if he was okay, but the gods were not smiling on him today because when he walked into the kitchen searching for coffee or tea or anything caffeinated there was Naruto, wearing an apron and whistling as he flipped a pancake. Sasuke tried to back out of the kitchen, thinking maybe if he pretended to be asleep he could catch some more shut-eye, but his foot landed on a creaky board and Naruto turned around.  
“Hey there ‘ttebayo!” he said cheerfully, coming over to Sasuke and pulling him further into the kitchen. (Don’t think about how warm and gentle his touch is. You literally just did it. I told you not to. What the fuck, Sasuke.) “You want anything to eat or drink? I’ve got okayu with ginger sitting on the stove, a hot pot of coffee brewing, and bratwurst and pancakes on the way. Wait wait, don’t tell me!” he said as Sasuke opened his mouth to interject. “You look like the kind of person who prefers okayu. I’ll give you okayu!” He waltzed over to the stove and began scooping the warm porridge into a bowl.  
At this point Sasuke couldn’t back out or refuse food so he sat down at the kotatsu with a mumbled “itadakimasu” as Naruto placed the bowl of okayu and a cup of coffee in front of him, clutching the fleece blanket tighter around his body to ward off the early autumn chill. He didn’t really want to eat but his stomach said otherwise and the okayu looked good so he tentatively spooned a bite into his mouth. It was a lot creamier than he was used to, but it was different in a good way.  
“I added milk instead of water,” explained Naruto as he rolled the sausages to heat them evenly. “Whenever we would visit my mom’s parents in Ireland Grandma would make homemade oatmeal with milk for us in the mornings and it was my favourite thing, but it’s been so long since we visited them and oatmeal is kinda hard to come by here so I just make okayu with milk instead. It’s a good comfort food, and I think we all need a little comfort right now.” He turned around and grinned. There was a hint of anxiety in his smile but it still shone like the sun’s rays and Sasuke thought absently that if smiles generated electricity just one of Naruto’s could power an entire city for weeks. (Wow, what a sap.) “By the way, how are you feeling this morning?”  
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” said Kiba, walking into the kitchen yawning. “Is that okayu? And sausages? You’re the best Naruto.”  
“I know,” replied Naruto. “And I wasn’t asking you dog breath, I was asking Sasuke.”  
“Wait, was that you screaming last night?” Kiba asked. “Shit man, you’re loud as fuck. I nearly fell out of bed. I thought the walkers were attacking.”  
“What, and you haven’t had nightmares before?” retorted Naruto before Sasuke could think of a comeback. “I specifically remember two years ago when you were sleeping over and got into my bed because you had a nightmare that you were being chased by clowns and woke me up with your whimpering.”  
“Ouch Naruto,” said Kiba, his cheeks flushed. “Way to remind me of one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.”  
“Serves you right,” Naruto laughed as he took a seat on the other side of the kotatsu with a plate of bratwurst and pancakes.  
“Oh sure, protect your boyfriend,” snorted Kiba.  
“Sasuke is not my boyfriend,” Naruto said, pointing a fork full of bratwurst in Kiba’s direction. There was a pink tinge in his cheeks. Sasuke blushed too and took a deep drought from his mug of coffee to avoid looking at the others.  
Kiba shifted his gaze between the two of them. “Oh my god, just kiss already,” he groaned.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

After a week of being cooped up in the house the confinement was starting to get to everyone. The power grid had shorted out around the second or third day and the generator was only turned on so that they could cook meals so that meant watching TV or playing video games were out, which really bummed Kiba out. The Uzumaki siblings had their books and Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Gaara had turned the garage into a makeshift kendo studio where they practised daily with some thin wooden rods they’d found while Saya and Sasaki spent their time knitting or mending clothes when Saya wasn’t slowly trying to use her foot again, but there was only so much reading or sewing or fighting you could do before you tired of the activity and wanted to find your stimulation elsewhere. And it was in these down periods when you started thinking too much about what was happening outside that tensions came to a head.  
“There’s nothing to do,” groaned Kiba for the sixth time in an hour as rain drummed softly on the kitchen roof.  
“I offered you my comic books,” said Naruto testily as he put chicken in the oven.  
“I asked if you could look over a story that I’m writing,” Naruko interjected.  
“Saya and I offered to teach you how to finger knit,” Sasaki sighed.  
“I offered to spar with you,” Shikamaru added.  
“We offered to teach you some sword techniques,” said Sasuke.  
“Naruto’s joined us for a few bouts,” Gaara put in helpfully. “He’s actually pretty good for a first-timer.”  
“I offered to play go,” Kurama said.  
“That’s more Shikamaru’s thing,” whined Kiba. “I suck at strategy.”  
“The point is that we’ve all offered you something to do,” Sasaki cut in, “and all you do is nap and spend your time throwing pebbles at zombies outside the gates.”  
“That’s because there’s nothing to do.”  
“Kiba. We’re literally offering you things to do,” snapped Naruto.  
“I read a few of your manga volumes and western comics and they got boring after a while,” said Kiba. “I have a short attention span.”  
“Then why are you bitching? You know we can’t keep the generator on for long because we have to conserve gasoline for cooking.”  
“Yeah, I know. I’m just tired.”  
“We’re all tired!” yelled Naruto. “We’re all scared, we’re all tired, we’re all worried, but everyone else is trying to distract themselves and help out around here while all you do is bitch when you’re awake!”  
“We should be going out to search for our family members, not staying holed up in here!” Kiba snarled back.  
“Oh yeah, great idea,” said Naruko. “Let’s just go out with a few guns and some swords and hack away at the horde of zombies outside the gate.”  
“It’d be better than just sitting here!”  
“Right now that’s not a good decision!” Naruto said.  
“Oh cool, so you’re going to just sit here and maybe let your parents die?” Kiba shouted. “Or maybe you’re sitting on your ass because you think they’re already dead.”  
The next second Naruto was on top of the kotatsu and Kiba was on the floor clutching his cheek. There was dead silence in the kitchen and then Naruto ran out, his feet padding up the stairs. Everyone watched him go in shocked silence before turning their stony gazes on Kiba.  
“Way to go asshat,” said Kurama as something crashed upstairs. “What a great friend you are.”  
“Fuck you all,” snarled Kiba, jumping up. He also ran out of the kitchen and the front door slammed behind him as he left the house.  
“I’d better go rein him in before his dumb ass gets eaten,” sighed Naruko, getting up from the table. When she left an uncomfortable silence again descended over the table, broken only by the sound of what must have been Naruto throwing things.  
“I’d better go check on Naruto,” Kurama said finally. “Can someone watch the chicken?”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Around maybe eleven it started storming properly. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled like a drum line made entirely of timpani. Naruko had finally talked Kiba down and everyone had gone to bed, but Sasuke was still up listening to the symphony outside as his mind went a hundred kilometres an hour. What if what Kiba said is right? What if everyone we knew is dead? What if we’re the last survivors on the face of the earth? What if… if… if…? Around and around inside his mind, creating an echo chamber that turned back on itself until the noise was so loud that Sasuke couldn’t take it anymore.  
Careful not to wake Gaara he carefully got up the couch and tiptoed up the stairs. He could barely see a foot in front of him but he felt his way to Naruto and Naruko’s room and knocked softly on the door before he could question himself any further. He didn’t expect there to be an answer, but Naruko opened the door almost immediately. Her tired blue eyes swept over Sasuke and she smiled.  
“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked as a crack of thunder cut the air. “Come on in. I’m going to go to bed soon but Naruto can’t sleep either.” She opened the door wider and Sasuke stepped into the room.  
A flash of lightning illuminated the bright orange and blue walls and the bunk bed taking up the far corner of the room. The bottom bunk was covered in pillows and blankets and seemed empty at first, but on second glance there was a lump in the middle.  
“Is Naruto in there?” Sasuke asked quietly.  
“Yeah,” replied Naruko with a sheepish laugh. “I surrounded him with my pillows in an attempt to comfort him. I also cleaned the room. I’m not very good at comforting people; that’s Naruto’s area. Sometimes the little gestures work though.”  
“Go away,” said Naruto’s muffled voice from the mound of pillows.  
“It’s Sasuke,” he replied.  
The lump shifted a little. “Go away,” he said again. Naruko shrugged but instead of leaving Sasuke walked over and found a space in between the pillows to sit down. Naruko stared at him and he shrugged.  
“You know what Kiba said earlier was out of line right?”  
After a few moments of silence Naruto poked his head out from under the blankets. He looked like he’d been crying. The sight pulled at something in Sasuke’s chest.  
“But what if he’s right?”  
“I mean there’s always a what-if. But what if he’s wrong?”  
There was silence again as Naruto processed the new what-if. Sasuke gave him time; it was hard to turn your thinking around when you were accustomed to fearing the worst.  
“I- I don’t know. I just keep thinking… You know… I didn’t do anything different when we left for school that day. I ate breakfast, I argued with Naruko, I gave my parents a rushed goodbye as I ran out the door, I met up with Kiba… I didn’t tell my parents I loved them or tell them to be safe or anything like that. If I’d known everything would go to shit I’d have said more.”  
“But you didn’t know,” said Sasuke, reaching out to take Naruto’s hand. “None of us did. I ate my breakfast, told my parents I was going like I usually do, they told me to study hard, I tried not to crash Itachi-nii’s car when he let me drive it, said goodbye. I’d probably have said more to my family too if I’d known, but nobody knew. You can’t think about the should-haves, they’re going to tear you apart.”  
More quiet, and then…  
“You’re holding my hand,” said Naruto quietly. Sasuke blushed and tried to pull back, but Naruto’s hand held his there. “Please don’t. It’s… comforting.”  
“Oh.” Sasuke didn’t know how to respond to that one so he looked awkwardly at Naruko. She waved slightly and climbed the ladder to her bunk, disappearing over the side. He looked back at Naruto, and Naruto looked back at him with blue eyes still shining with unshed tears, and he had the strong urge to brush them away but didn’t. He didn’t want to push too far so instead opted for words. “Don’t listen to Kiba. Keep hoping that your parents are alive. Eventually the zombies outside will move on and we’ll be able to go looking for our families, but right now you’ve just got to keep hoping.”  
“Is that what you’re doing?” Naruto asked.  
Sasuke blinked. If he thought about it… He wasn’t holding out much hope and wished he wouldn’t hope at all, but a part of him desperately clung to that hope. He needed to see his mom, to hear her say that it was okay, and he needed to spend more time with Itachi-nii. He had so much to learn…  
“You don’t look too sure,” observed Naruto, his eyes searching Sasuke’s face. “Is that why you came up? Were you thinking about the what-ifs too?”  
“I…”  
And then suddenly he was enveloped in Naruto’s arms and he realised that more than wanting to check on the blond ball of sunshine he’d been searching for the same comfort that Naruto was searching for. He closed his eyes and let himself lean into the hug and held on, letting the scent of soap and lemon fill his nostrils and drown out the echoing in his brain until Naruto and his warmth were all that was there.  
“Y’know temee, you should learn to take your own advice,” Naruto murmured into Sasuke’s hair. “No one will take you seriously if you don’t take yourself seriously.”  
“Shut up, dobe,” Sasuke retorted, trying to stifle a yawn. “Is this the thanks I get for trying to help?”  
Naruto chuckled. “Still stubborn as ever.”  
“Look who’s talking, you- don’t pull me down!” Sasuke protested as Naruto suddenly flopped on the pile of pillows, bringing him down on top.  
“Shut up and go to sleep temee. I know you’re tired.”  
And Naruto was right; Sasuke was suddenly so tired that he felt he could sleep for a week, and he was thoroughly unmotivated by the thought of going back downstairs to sleep on the couch. (Fuck it, this is happening.)  
“Fine,” he said, rolling off Naruto and onto the pillows surrounding them. “I’m not doing it because you told me to though.”  
“Of course not,” Naruto said with a smile on his face as Sasuke curled around him. “Now go to sleep.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon 1: Sasuke and Naruto are both chronically anxious little beans who deal with their anxiety in different ways. Sasuke deals by focusing on academics and the physical; Naruto deals by putting on a smile to hide his anxiety and making everyone else happy.  
> Headcanon 2: They’re both empaths. Naruto oozes empathy everywhere constantly, which is why his attitude is so consistent. Sasuke keeps his locked up inside but it makes itself known when he loses control, which is why his emotions are all over the place.
> 
> ~CaelansFolly92


	5. Mother

“…’Suke…”  
“Just five more minutes,” Sasuke pleaded, turning over. Naruto’s bed was so comfortable…  
“Sasuke.”  
“Mmmm…”  
“SASUKE!”  
“What?!” he yelled, shooting up and looking around for the source of the voice.  
“Over here.” He looked at the door where Naruko was standing, a piece of paper clutched in her hand. “Naruto’s gone.”  
Sasuke tried to process what Naruko was saying as he rubbed his eyes. “He’s not in the kitchen?”  
“Nope.”  
“Or the garage?”  
“Nope. He left a note.”  
“Shit, shit, shit,” Sasuke mumbled, taking the note from Naruko and trying to get his bearings at the same time.

To everyone,

I’m worried about Mom and Dad. I’m going to look for them at work.

Naruto

Sasuke read it over a few times, his heart feeling like it might burst out of his chest at any moment.  
“Where do they work?” he asked Naruko.  
“The town hall,” she responded.  
So I’ll get a chance to search for Mom too. “Did he take a vehicle?”  
“Yeah, looks like he took the truck. It’s the only vehicle we own that can hold the snow plough attachment and he’d need that to get past the traffic jam going up the cliff.”  
“Well I suppose that makes it easier for us to follow him,” Sasuke muttered. “We are going to go get him right?”  
“Yeah. I guess it’s you, me, Kurama, and Kiba.”  
“Kiba?” Sasuke asked. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”  
“I mean no, but Kiba feels like it’s his fault that Naruto left so it can’t hurt to let him come along,” responded Naruko as Sasuke threw on one of Naruto’s hoodies and a pair of jeans and went for the garage to grab his kusanagi. “Just don’t make him feel any worse than he already does. And you might want to carry a gun as well.”  
“I honestly don’t know how to shoot a gun,” Sasuke told her.  
“You don’t?” said Naruko as she followed him. “Never mind then, let’s go get the moron.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Naruto sped along the twisting roads, the plough attachment knocking zombies left and right and the music turned up so that he couldn’t hear the moaning. He really hoped no one would follow him; he didn’t know how many of the zombies were permanently down as opposed to just knocked over.  
He’d woken up at six in the morning with his arms around Sasuke. Part of him wished he’d stayed there because Sasuke smelled faintly of fresh snowflakes on pine and holding him felt right, like their bodies fit together perfectly, but Naruto just couldn’t get Kiba’s words out of his head. No matter how much he tried to tell himself that he needed to wait, he shouldn’t go out without a game plan, his anxiety shouted it down by repeating Kiba’s words at full volume. So here he was with no back-up and no plan other than to find his parents, even if it killed him…  
What the hell am I doing? Fuck it, it’s too late to go back now.  
He pulled up to the town hall, his heart pounding. In better times he’d walk by on his way to downtown Konoha to hang out with Kiba and Shikamaru or do homework at the library with Naruko and feel a swelling of pride because my parents work there helping to make the town a better place. Now the cylindrical building was dark and imposing in the cloudy autumn morning, the sidewalk around it ringed with scattered crowd control barriers and dropped riot shields, the occasional severed limb attached. Naruto carefully looked around him before he got the hunting rifle and left the truck; the nearest zombies were two a little ways down in the parking lot, not close enough to get to him before he got to the doors. He slipped into the municipal building as they were trying to navigate the maze of debris.  
Naruto’s footfalls echoed in the atrium as he went for the stairs, even as he tried to tread softly so as not to make too much noise. He inwardly cringed at the tap squrrrk noise that his shoes made on the marble as he ascended the stairs, one hand holding the rifle and the other on his pocket ready to grab the kitchen knife he’d brought with him. Whoever had invented polished stone flooring had evidently not taken a zombie apocalypse into account.  
On the third floor near his mom’s office he encountered the first zombies he’d seen inside the building. Most of them were lying around the closed office door, but there was a man in a torn checked three-piece suit and a bowler still standing, one foot turned one hundred and eighty degrees in the other direction and the other missing a shoe. The second he heard Naruto he turned and shambled toward him, groaning all the way. Naruto took out the kitchen knife and drove it into the zombie’s skull with a soft squelching noise and the zombie fell over with a loud thump, brains oozing from the hole made by the knife. Zombie free for now, he made his way toward his mom’s office. With the butt of the rifle he slowly pushed open the door, briefly registering the plaque on the door which read Uzumaki Kushina, Head of Mayoral Security… and recoiled as a bullet sped past his face.  
“Motherfucker!” he swore. “Don’t shoot, I’m not a zombie!”  
“Who is it!?!” called a familiar voice from behind the door.  
“Mom!” he cried, bursting into the room with his arms outstretched.  
Kushina hugged him back, her turquoise eyes shining. “Naruto! I thought you were the zombie, ‘ttebane!”  
“Nope, it’s just me,” said Naruto. “Is Dad here?”  
“No, he went for his weekly meeting with the chief of police. Why are you alone? Are your siblings safe?”  
“Yeah, they’re at home with some people from school. Should I bring them here or are you going to come home?”  
Kushina looked conflicted. “I can’t just leave everyone here behind.”  
“Then let’s bring them, Mom.”  
“But where are they going to stay when you’ve already got a group at home?”  
“You go home Kushina,” interjected a slight woman whose eyes and hair reminded Naruto strongly of Sasuke. “We’ll figure out how to get home.”  
“No Mikoto,” interjected Kushina, “I’m not leaving anyone behind. Naruto, I’d like you to meet my deputy head, Uchiha Mikoto.”  
“Nice to finally meet you, Naruto-kun,” said Mikoto as she and Naruto both bowed slightly. “Kushina’s told me so much about her children over the years but I’ve never had a chance to meet you. Where do you go to school?”  
“I’m a junior at Konoha High.”  
Mikoto’s eyes lit up. “Konoha High?” she said eagerly. “Do you know my son Sasuke?”  
“Yeah, I know him,” said Naruto. (So that’s why she reminds me of him.) “He’s part of the group at our house. He’s safe.”  
“Oh thank god,” Mikoto said, grabbing Kushina’s shoulder to hold herself up. “I’ve been so worried.”  
Just then there came a screeching of brakes from outside the window and everyone jumped up. Naruto pushed through the group to see what was going on, and he paled in anger at the sight of Naruko, Kurama, Sasuke, and Kiba getting out of his car. “I told those idiots to not come after me, ‘ttebayo… Now every zombie in the area is gonna gather here!” He ran out of the room and down the stairs…  
And right into a zombie horde. “Shit, shit, shit,” he snarled as he ran back up the stairs with the zombies on his tail. (Of course this would happen, did you really think you could come here without a plan and everything would go well?) From three flights down he heard the front doors of the municipal building bang open. (I’m so dead when Kurama and Naruko get up here…) “Fuck it, they already know we’re here,” he said as he swung the rifle up and opened fire. From behind him he heard other gunfire as the people who had been in the office took aim with their handguns, and the front row of zombies staggering up the stairs went down. The zombies behind them simply climbed over the fallen members of their ranks. Naruto jumped back further as a grasping hand scratched at his pants leg, trying to pull him toward the zombies’ gaping mouths.  
“There’s no way we’re gonna be able to clear this out!” Kushina said. “They just keep coming! We need to go down the side stairwell!” She led them down the hall as the first zombies reached the third floor landing. When they were halfway down the hall there came the sound of shoes scuffling on the stairs and Kiba, Naruko, Sasuke, and Kurama practically fell out of the side door.   
“You’re a dead man Naruto!” yelled Kurama. “Did you seriously think we wouldn’t come after you?!”  
“Oh fuck,” muttered Naruto.  
“Beat him up later!” Naruko said. “This way!”  
“Already headed that way, ‘ttebayo!”  
“Sasuke!” Mikoto cried, her eyes tearing up at the sight of her son. “  
“Mom?” Sasuke called back, a smile beginning at the corners of his mouth. “You’re alive!”  
In that moment Kushina tripped over one of the bodies on the ground around her office and her gun went skidding across the floor. Naruto turned and ran toward her, but he was too near the stairwell door to get there in time. He levelled the rifle and shot the two zombies at the head of the pack squarely between the eyes, but now his gun was out of bullets and he was too far for his knife to be effective. He watched helplessly as the zombie horde bore down on his mother, knowing he couldn’t save her...  
At the last second Mikoto got between Kushina and the zombies. She screamed as the first one grabbed her and bit into her shoulder, but she held her ground and fought the zombie long enough for Kushina to regain her feet.  
“Mikoto!” she cried, dragging her bleeding partner away from the grasping claws. Though Mikoto’s balance was severely affected the two women made it down the hall and through the door at the end of the hall, slamming the door behind them. She immediately fell to the floor, gasping for breath as blood bubbled in the corners of her mouth.  
“Are you okay… Kushina?” she asked quietly.  
“I’m fine, Mikoto,” responded Kushina, her voice cracking as she tried to hold it together.  
“Mom?” Sasuke asked, his voice wavering. Naruto turned and saw him at the edge of the circle that had gathered around Mikoto, his face full of shock and disbelief. He took two steps forward and then fell to his knees beside his dying mother, picking her hand up and holding it as if she might break at any second, his other hand pressed against her shoulder in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.  
Mikoto looked up at her son and smiled. “My baby boy…” she whispered, brushing hair out of Sasuke’s face. “You’ve made me so proud. Listen closely… When I die… I’ll turn into one of them… so I need you to kill me.” Sasuke shook his head fiercely, trying to back away, but Mikoto pulled him back in. “Please,” she begged. “It’ll be okay, Sasuke.”  
“Mom, I can’t-”  
“You can,” she said fiercely. “Please, promise me. Please do it… for me.”  
After a moment’s hesitation Sasuke nodded. Mikoto looked at him with relief and sorrow in her eyes. “It’ll be okay… Sasuke. I love you…”  
Her grip on his hand slackened and her eyes began to cloud over but he gathered her into his arms, clutching her like a child clutching a security blanket. He struggled as Naruto pulled him away from her body. “Let me go… No! Get off! Let go of me!”  
“She’s going to reanimate soon,” Naruto said quietly. Sasuke turned to him, seeming to barely comprehend what he was saying. “There’ll be time for mourning later. You need to fulfil your promise to her.”  
And sure enough Mikoto’s body began to stir again as they watched. Naruto’s heart broke at the desperate hope on Sasuke’s face, but the hope faded into horror and grief as a faint moan creaked and stuttered its way from her throat. He finally drew his sword as everyone but Naruto fell away, putting distance between themselves and the newly reanimated creature that had moments before been a living and breathing woman.  
“I love you too, Mom,” Sasuke whispered shakily as Mikoto reached for him, her teeth clacking. There was a second when Naruto thought he wasn’t going to do it and he reached for his knife, but then Sasuke stabbed downward, hard, thrusting the blade through Mikoto’s eye socket with enough force that it exited through the back of her skull and nicked the floor below. There was a sickening squelching sound as he pulled the blade free, and Naruto couldn’t be sure because his eyes were suddenly burning but there seemed to be a flicker of relief in those clouded eyes as she fell back to the ground.  
Uchiha Mikoto was well and truly dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In retrospect maybe Sasuke should’ve waited until they were done killing zombies to say “you’re alive” to his mum. Or at least knocked on wood after he said it. Just saying.  
> Sorry if this chapter sounds kind of stilted. I’ve been kind of off for the last few days and I’m trying to keep writing and editing because I’ve got to do something to keep my mind off the suicidal thoughts, but writing through a depressive episode is easier said than done. I’ll probably come back to this chapter to rewrite it again, but right now here’s what I’ve got.  
> Anyway, read and review!
> 
> ~CaelansFolly92


	6. Broken

Pounding, cracking screaming, moaning, gunshots, the sounds of running feet, all of it whirled into a cacophony of calamity but still Sasuke stayed rooted to the ground beside his mother, his mind numb with shock. What was happening now? How come the world hadn’t stopped when Mom had died? Nothing made sense anymore. Faintly he heard someone screaming his name and a tanned hand, Naruto’s hand, tugged at his. He felt like he was living in a dream as he allowed Naruto to drag him down the stairs and through the atrium. Behind them he could hear gunshots, but they sounded as if they came from the other end of town and not a few feet away. The next thing he knew he was in the passenger seat of Naruto’s car and they were speeding away from the town hall. The truck roared along in front of them, the plough attached to its front clearing the way back to the Uzumaki house.  
There was someone shaking Sasuke and words were being shouted, but they all ran together. “I can’t understand what you’re saying…” he mumbled to the speaker. “I can’t… understand…”  
Everything faded away into silence and then a hand was touching Sasuke’s face. Everything was suddenly in high definition as he felt his head gently turned and his eyes met Naruto’s. “Sasuke, are you hurt?” Naruto asked, the urgency on his face belying the gentleness of his words as he tried to keep them on the road.  
Sasuke didn’t know how to answer. Was he okay? He didn’t feel okay. He looked down at his arms. They were covered in blood, but it wasn’t his; it was his mother’s. And just like that he began to shake violently, his breath coming in short gasping coughs. From the back seat someone tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned a small item was pressed into his hands. It was his inhaler and he pressed the chamber down as he took a deep breath.  
Breathe in, breathe out… Breathe in, breathe out… Breathe in, Sasuke, breathe, just breathe in and then breathe out, you can do it…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When they got in the door, Saya and Sasaki were sitting on the couch with a ball of yarn. At the sight of Naruto, Sasaki jumped up. “What the hell?!” she yelled. “Everyone was worried sick about your punk ass!”  
Naruto waved her away as he tried to get Sasuke inside. “Beat me up, yell at me, do whatever, but can it wait till later?” When Sasaki saw the serious look on Naruto’s face and the blood on Sasuke’s hands she quietly stepped out of the way.  
“What happened?” she asked Kurama in a hushed voice as the two boys walked up the stairs.  
Kurama shook his head at her in warning. “We’ll talk about it later. In the meantime help me get the generator started. We’ve got more survivors and they’re probably gonna want to get cleaned up.” He nodded at Kushina and the small group behind her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Naruto took Sasuke into the bathroom, trying to avoid having to deal with anyone else for the moment. He didn’t know if Sasuke could handle extra interactions at the moment and he wanted to keep unwanted stimuli to a minimum. He lit a candle and then placed it on the sink.  
“Kurama should have the generator running soon,” he said. “You should shower, temee.”  
“Shower…” Sasuke repeated quietly, his eyes shadowed.  
“Yeah, shower,” agreed Naruto. “I’m gonna step outside and get you some clothing- Hunh?” He looked down to where Sasuke’s hand was grasping his, a silent plea for him to stay. “Okay, I’ll get the clothes later.”  
Naruto stood in the corner until he heard the sound of water hissing from the shower tap and then moved to the toilet seat, humming absentmindedly as he ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t really know what he was doing; he just wanted to do anything to distract him a little from the morning’s events. If he didn’t distract himself he’d start thinking about the deaths that might not have happened if he hadn’t left…  
The shower turned off and Sasuke’s hand came out from behind the curtain, groping for a towel. Naruto grabbed one from the shelf above the toilet and handed it to him. After a few moments more he stepped out of the shower with the towel wrapped around his waist, his hair dripping. Naruto grabbed another towel and started tousling his dark locks with it.  
“You’re gonna catch a cold if you don’t dry off properly,” he said. Sasuke didn’t give any sign that he’d acknowledged Naruto’s words. Naruto sighed and took him by the hand, leading him down the hall to his and Naruko’s room. He grabbed some nightclothes from his dresser and laid them out on the bed and turned around while Sasuke changed. When he was done he stood there quietly while Naruto placed the wet towels over the door to dry.  
“Do you want anything to eat?” he asked.  
Sasuke shook his head. “I just want to sleep.”  
Naruto nodded. “Okay. Yeah, it’s been a long day. You go to sleep.” He watched as Sasuke crawled under the covers of his bed, completely hiding himself in the blankets and pillows. He wanted to go over and hug him so badly, but he wasn’t sure if Sasuke would welcome that right now so he just settled for rearranging the pillows so that the lump was completely surrounded and then leaving the room with a soft “I’ll be back later.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Later that night as the house slept, Naruto was woken up by Sasuke’s shifting body and the sound of soft sobbing. Propping himself up on one elbow he looked over. Sasuke was still asleep but he was obviously having a nightmare, mumbling desperately. “Stop… No please… Take me instead… No…”  
“Sasuke?” asked Naruto, gently brushing his ebony locks out of his pale sweating face. “Sasuke, wake up.” But Sasuke didn’t wake up and the sobbing became louder. He was thrashing now, hands grasping at air, and Naruto was afraid he was going to hurt himself. Steeling himself against whatever reaction his actions brought, he did the only thing he could think of: straddling Sasuke’s hips he grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. Hard. “OI, SASUKE!”  
Sasuke’s reaction when he woke up was about what Naruto had expected. He thrashed under Naruto and tried to fight him, but Naruto gathered him to his chest and didn’t let go. After a moment of struggling Sasuke gave up and fell limp in Naruto’s arms, tears flowing down his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as Naruto bundled them both back under the covers.  
“Shh, it’ll be okay,” murmured Naruto, kissing him on the forehead. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” But his words only made Sasuke cry harder. Naruko looked down at him over the edge of her bed, her face a mask of worry, and Naruto shook his head slightly at her. With a nod of understanding she disappeared from the edge and Naruto heard her turning over as he turned his attention back to Sasuke. “Hey temee. Let it out. It’ll be okay.”  
They stayed like that, Naruto whispering sweet nothings into Sasuke’s ear until his crying slowed and they eventually fell asleep again with their arms entwined around each other.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Day 1

“I made some mutton stew today,” Kushina said from the doorway. “Do you want any, Sasuke-chan?”  
“I’m not hungry,” Sasuke mumbled from his spot in the corner of Naruto’s bed. He should probably eat but he didn’t think he could stomach it. Every time he thought of food he thought of his mother’s gnashing teeth and his stomach revolted. He just couldn’t do it.  
“All right, I’m going to leave it outside the door ‘ttebane. It’s there if you change your mind, dear.”  
“Thank you, Uzumaki-san…”  
Sasuke waited until Kushina’s footsteps faded away and then brought the stew in and put it on the desk. Maybe the smell would entice him to eat… Maybe it wouldn’t. Nothing really helped, not when all his mind would do was replay his mother’s death over and over again, tormenting him with what-ifs and should-haves. He put his head in his hands, pressing down over his eyes with the palms of his hands until bright spots swam in front of his eyes. It didn’t get rid of the memory. An involuntary sob left his lips.

Day 2

“Sasuke,” said Gaara.  
“Hm?” Sasuke responded, not moving his head from its cradle in his arms.  
“Shikamaru and I are going to go to the garage and spar for a bit. You wanna go a few rounds?”  
“No thank you.”  
Gaara’s footsteps receded.

Day 3

“Sasuke, how long has it been since you last ate?” asked Naruto as they woke up.  
“Dunno,” mumbled Sasuke. “Not hungry.”  
“You’re gonna get sick if you keep not eating ‘ttebayo.”  
“I’ll be fine.”  
“Will you at least drink something?”  
“Drop it, usuratonkachi,” Sasuke snapped.  
There was silence and then the bed shifted as Naruto got out. The lack of his presence left Sasuke feeling lonelier than before.

Day 4

“Hey, Shikamaru and I are sparring again,” said Gaara. “Naruto and some of the other people are going to join us.”  
“Cool,” mumbled Sasuke, not bothering to turn over to look at his friend.  
“You want to go a few rounds?”  
“No thanks.”  
Gaara sighed. “You’ve got to come out some time.”  
“I said no.”  
“Will you at least eat something?” asked Naruto from behind Gaara. “I can make okayu again.”  
“Can’t stomach it.”  
“Something to drink then? Tea maybe?”  
“Leave me alone,” Sasuke mumbled. “I’m fine.”  
“The hell you are,” said Gaara, storming out of the room. Sasuke and Naruto watched him leave but just as quickly as he left he was back, carrying Sasuke’s kusanagi.  
“Holy shit Gaara, no, what the fuck are you-” Naruto protested, but Gaara grabbed Sasuke’s hand and pressed the sword into it. All three of them looked at it mutely for a moment, taking in the dried blood on the handle, and then Sasuke threw it with a cry of horror and anguish, burying his face in his arms again. The bed shifted as Naruto pushed Gaara out of the way and knelt before him, trying to calm him with soft platitudes.  
“What the fuck did you think that was going to accomplish?!” he growled at Gaara.  
“He needs to wake up and start moving forward. Mikoto-san would want him to do that for her.”  
“Some friend you are, you thought you were going to accomplish that by shoving the sword he used to kill his mom into his hands?”  
“Admittedly I didn’t really think that through.”  
“No shit!”  
“BOTH OF YOU GET OUT!” screamed Sasuke. “Please… I’m sorry… Just go!”  
There was silence and then the bed shifted and Naruto and Gaara’s footsteps retreated down the hall, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts once again.  
That night Naruto slept on the couch, and the lack of his presence left Sasuke's sleep restless.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

On the fifth day after the town hall rescue, Naruto came into his and Naruko’s room and sat next to Sasuke on the bed. “Hey temee,” he said softly.  
“Go away, Naruto,” mumbled Sasuke.  
Naruto seemed to fight with himself for a second and then his shoulders straightened. “No,” he said.  
Sasuke looked up. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”  
“I mean it’s been almost a week since you’ve eaten anything or bothered to take a shower.”  
“That’s my business- Oi, let go of me!” Sasuke protested as Naruto grabbed hold of his wrist and dragged him off the bed.  
“Nope,” said Naruto cheerily. “Today is the day you eat. But first you’re taking a shower.”  
“I don’t smell that bad!”  
“Yes you do,” said Naruko from her bunk as she looked over from her copy of A Wrinkle in Time. “I thought for sure that you’d died.”  
“You need a change of clothes,” said Naruto as he grabbed clothes out of the drawers, blissfully unaware of the death glare that Sasuke was currently shooting Naruko’s way. “There! Take those and go get under the warm water before Kurama turns off the generator.”  
“Whatever,” Sasuke muttered, but he did as Naruto said and walked down the hall to the bathroom.   
The water was warm as it pattered over Sasuke’s body, but it wasn’t enough to wash away the video playing on repeat. No matter how he scrubbed at his body he couldn’t wash away the shame, the grief, the blood… (Oh god, Mom, it won’t come out… Please, Mom…)  
(But you killed your mom.)  
“Sasuke?” Naruto asked as he knocked on the door. “Are you okay? I thought I heard a scream just now.”  
“I’m fine Naruto; I just slipped,” answered Sasuke. And in a sense he had: each of his shoulders now had bleeding gouges where he’d dug his fingernails in too hard in an attempt to get himself to stop thinking, please stop thinking, stop replaying the images, please.  
The water was now cold so Sasuke got out and dried himself off on the towel before putting on the clothes that Naruto had given him. He didn’t know if he wanted to step out of the bathroom and face other people right now but he couldn’t stay in here forever; someone else would eventually have to use the bathroom.  
“There you are,” Naruto said when he came out. “I thought you’d died in there, ‘ttebayo. Come on, Mom’s cooking today’s meals.”  
“I don’t want to eat,” said Sasuke, trying to ignore the loud dissatisfied gurgling coming from his stomach.  
“Nope, you’re eating today,” responded Naruto. Then he caught a glimpse of the scratches on Sasuke’s arms. “Hold up.” He went into the bathroom and came back out with some band-aids.  
“Naruto, I’m fine, really,” Sasuke started to protest but Naruto ignored him and opened up a band-aid, pressing it down gently over the broken skin. “You don’t have to do that.”  
“Of course I do,” Naruto replied. “You’re hurting, Sasuke. What else am I supposed to do?” He pressed a light kiss to the uncovered wounds before he pressed a bandage to that arm as well.  
Sasuke looked away, a light blush spreading over his cheeks. “You’re embarrassing, dobe.”  
“So I’ve been told,” said Naruto with a grin. “Now come on temee, you look like you’ve lost weight and I can hear your stomach growling.”  
“Fuck off,” said Sasuke as Naruto took his hand and pulled him down the stairs and into the kitchen.  
Kushina looked up when they walked in. “Sasuke-chan! You’re just in time; I just finished making a fresh batch of cheese and potato dumplings and some beef stew.”  
“I’m-”  
“Don’t say you’re not hungry, you lying liar,” Naruto objected. “Sit down and I’ll get you some tea.”  
“You look like you’ve lost weight, ‘ttebane,” said Kushina, a worried frown flashing across her face.  
“I said the same thing!” Naruto said as he placed a mug on the kotatsu in front of Sasuke. “You’ll love Mom’s homemade Klöße, she’s an even better cook than Naruko and I are.”  
“Klöße?” Sasuke asked. “That sounds German.”  
“Yeah,” Naruto replied, sitting down at the table. “Dad’s dad was a low-ranking German official stationed in Japan during World War II and that’s how he met Baa-chan. His mom taught Baa-chan to make Klöße and Baa-chan taught Mom when she and Dad got engaged.”  
“Nobody cares about our family history Naruto!” said Kushina, waving the spoon in her son’s direction. “Though remind me to tell you some time about the time Naruto’s dad and I met. It’s an interesting story.”  
“I thought you just said nobody cares about our family’s history,” muttered Naruto.  
“What was that?”  
“N-nothing, Mom.”  
“That’s what I thought,” said Kushina, putting full dishes in front of both boys with a flourish. “Eat up!”  
“Itadakimasu!” cried Naruto, picking up a fork and digging into one of the dumplings.  
”Itadakimasu,” Sasuke murmured as he picked up a piece of beef. The stew tasted strange, but it was a good strange. “This is good, Uzumaki-san.”  
“I’m glad you like it Sasuke-chan!” tittered Kushina. “And don’t call me Uzumaki-san; it makes me feel old. Call me Kushina or call me Mom! Either one works for me, ‘ttebane!” Sasuke’s fork paused halfway to his mouth and she seemed to realise that she’d just put her foot in her mouth. “Not that I want to replace Mikoto! I didn’t mean that at all; I’m so sorry, ‘ttebane!”  
There was a tense silence and then Sasuke smiled. “I know what you meant, Kushina-san.” The smile felt off though, and he could tell that Naruto noticed. He stuffed the fork with the bit of dumpling on it into his mouth to avoid having a conversation. He didn’t want to think about his mom right now.  
The rest of the meal was quiet, and Sasuke was pretty sure it was because Naruto and Kushina didn’t want to accidentally bring up the incident a few days ago. He appreciated the quiet because he didn’t know if he could handle much conversation now, but at the same time it annoyed him. He wasn’t delicate. (But you’ve been acting awfully delicate these last few days. You’ve gone and worried everyone.)  
(Fuck you, I’m not delicate. I’m grieving.)  
(Call it what you want.)  
“Ugh,” he muttered, putting a hand to his head in a misguided attempt to stop the thought process.  
“What’s wrong, Sasuke-chan?” Kushina asked.  
“I’m fine,” Sasuke mumbled. “The food was good. Thank you, Kushina-san.” He got up from the table and turned to leave.  
“That smells amazing, Kushina-san,” said Gaara, walking into the kitchen. Then he caught sight of Sasuke. “Oh. Hey Sasuke…”  
“Hey,” Sasuke responded, not sure how to move forward.  
“Uh…” Gaara paused. “About yesterday. I’m really sorry about that. I was worried and I let my emotions get the best of me and I fucked up.”  
“Yeah… Don’t worry about it, it happens. Thanks, Gaara.” Sasuke kept his head down as he moved past Gaara. “I’m going back upstairs- Huh?”  
Suddenly he was enveloped in warmth. Long red hair entered his periphery. Kushina. Her embrace was soft and comforting, and Sasuke fought not to tear up right then and there as he felt his heart breaking again. If only he could have one more moment with his mother.  
“I know it hurts, Sasuke-chan,” Kushina whispered into his ear. “You have people who love you. You’ll get through this.”  
“Thank you, Kushina-san,” he said quietly, not trusting his voice. “I’ll remember that.” He gently disengaged and took the stairs before he could completely lose his composure.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Later that night, finally next to Sasuke in his own bed again, Naruto was woken up by horrified screams. Bolting up he looked around for the source of the danger, but it was just him and Sasuke in his bed and Naruko looking over the edge of hers with the confused terror of the barely awake. Exhaling he turned to Sasuke, who was cowering in the corner with his hands over his ears.  
“Sasuke?” Naruto asked quietly, putting a hand out. “Hey, temee. It’s just a nightmare.”  
“You don’t understand, Naruto,” Sasuke moaned, his head down. “It’s not just a nightmare. I go to sleep and I dream about her dying, and then I wake up and remember her dying. It doesn’t stop. It won’t stop. Please make it stop, I want it to STOP! WHY WON’T IT STOP!”  
“Hey, hey, Sasuke,” Naruto tried, “come here, ‘ttebayo. Lie down with me.” He coaxed Sasuke with his words and his hands until they were lying down again with Sasuke’s head tucked under Naruto’s chin and their arms wrapped around each other in a tight embrace. “Listen to me. I don’t know what it’s like to lose a parent, especially the way you lost your mom. But I can imagine the pain you’re going through. If I lost my parents or my siblings the way you did I’d probably be the same way. That’s why I want to know what I can do to help.”  
“You can’t help,” whispered Sasuke. “I don’t even know how to make it better myself. What could you do?”  
“I can be here for you,” Naruto said solemnly. “And I’ll be here as long as you need me.”  
“Even if it never gets easier?”  
Naruto smiled. “I bet it’ll get easier eventually. But even if it never gets easier I’ll still be there.”  
“You can’t know that,” Sasuke muttered, pulling back to gaze at Naruto through watering eyes.  
“No, I can’t,” conceded Naruto. “But I do know that everything eventually comes to an end. Even bad things. I think that eventually you’ll be able to think about your mom without wanting to tear your hair out and remember all the good times instead of the bad ones.”  
“If you’re wrong I’ll never let you live it down, dobe.”  
“Yeah, I know,” said Naruto with a grin. “Now go to sleep. I’ll be right here to ward off the nightmares, ‘ttebayo.” He laid a chaste kiss upon Sasuke’s lips. The older boy’s eyes widened in surprise but after a moment he leaned into the kiss, his soft lips pressing back against Naruto’s.  
“About time,” he whispered.  
“Shut up and go to sleep, temee.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just finished reading the Residence of the Sun doujinshi trilogy and holy shit that was an emotional roller coaster. If you’re looking for NaruSasu doujinshi and also for something that makes you cry, you can find all three parts of Residence of the Sun on YouTube.  
> Please read and review!
> 
> ~CaelansFolly92


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